Pop pleased with Kawhi’s fourth-place ROY finish

Kawhi Leonard’s fourth-place finish in the Rookie of the Year balloting announced Tuesday gave him the highest finish by a Spur for the award since Manu Ginobili finished fourth in 2003.

And considering that Leonard was the rare rookie to earn a starting position with the Spurs, Coach Gregg Popovich has been intrigued with his growth this season.

“He’s been a real dedicated player, he’s been a quick learner,” Popovich said. “He’s done a good enough job where I can trust him to be in the starting lineup. I’m happy for him.”

Leonard’s development in the Spurs’ system is even more remarkable considering he didn’t have the benefit of a full training camp to learn the team’s philosophy. And the lockout-truncated regular season gave him barely any practice time once the season began.

“His biggest improvement offensively has been his shooting,” Popovich said. “The time he spent with (shooting coaches) Chip Engelland and Chad Forcier has been great. That’s probably the area where he’s improved the most.”